The Bureau of Justice Statistics prepared a report that analyzed jail suicides and suicides in state and federal prisons from 2000-2019. There were 499 suicides in correctional facilities in 2001. The number grew to 695 in 2019.

More than half of the suicides that occurred in local jails happened within the first 30 days of incarceration. In 2019, 355 inmates in county and municipal jails died by suicide, up from 289 in 2000. However, the rate of suicide was similar between the two years. In 2000, the rate of inmate suicides in local jails was 48 per 100,000. In 2019, the rate was 49 per 100,000. In 2015, the suicide rate in local jails peaked at 52 per 100,000 inmates.

From 2010 to 2019, nearly 90% of the suicide deaths in local jails were caused by suffocation, including hanging and self-strangulation.

In 2000 through 2004, nearly 22% of the suicides in local jails occurred in the first 24 hours of incarceration. From 2015 through 2019, that number dropped to 12%. This may have been due to enhancements of suicide prevention efforts.

More than half of all local jails that have a capacity of at least 1,000 or more inmates reported at least one inmate suicide.

Learn more in Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, and Part 7 of this continuing series.

Helping Texas jail detainees and their families with resources is one of the purposes of this website. There is no intention of suggesting that people or organizations have been involved in misdeeds.

–Guest Contributor